Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Lawrence Ukenye Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Eli | Email Lauren Programming note: We’ll be off this Monday and Tuesday for the Fourth of July but will be back in your inboxes on Wednesday. Be careful with those firecrackers! When President JOE BIDEN announced his plan last year to forgive $400 billion in student loan debt, there was already an awareness that the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority could at some point put a halt to it. The 6-3 ruling that did just that Friday came as no surprise to the White House, which has been plotting out its possible response to such an outcome for several weeks. After seeing how oral arguments in the case went, chief of staff JEFF ZEINTS convened near weekly meetings in his office. Led by Zients and deputy chief of staff NATALIE QUILLIAN, aides from across the administration examined every possible way to help borrowers quickly if and when the Supreme Court struck down the existing program, White House officials told West Wing Playbook. On those days decisions came down, senior staffers were glued to AMY HOWE’s SCOTUSblog, printing out opinions as soon as they were released and gathering teams to brief the president. After the ruling Friday, Biden directed aides to move forward with the agreed-on plan — an attempt to provide debt relief to low- and middle-income borrowers and to institute an on-ramp to repayment that would help the most vulnerable borrowers. “I’m not going to stop fighting to deliver borrowers what they need,” Biden said during remarks in the Roosevelt Room. “We need to find a new way, and we’re moving as fast as we can.” But Biden acknowledged that the proposed plan — which involved launching a rulemaking process under the Higher Education Act that could eventually allow Education Secretary MIGUEL CARDONA to compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances — would take time. “Today’s decision has closed one path. Now we’re going to pursue another,” Biden said. “I’m never going to stop fighting for you. We’ll use every tool at our disposal to get you the student loan debt relief you need.” The official notice of the rulemaking was finalized Thursday evening and went live on the Department of Education’s website just before the president spoke Friday afternoon. Biden also announced a new 12-month repayment “on-ramp” ensuring that borrowers who miss payments are not considered delinquent or referred to collection agencies for a year. Though Biden took time to embrace student debt relief, and though his team suspected the court might rule against him, they believed firmly in the legality of the executive action and the policy itself. The positive public response, which exceeded many aides’ expectations, bolstered the administration’s conviction. A poll conducted last month by Data for Progress found that 61 percent of likely voters support Biden’s debt forgiveness program. “There is real buy-in on this from the top,” one person close to the White House said. “This isn’t just theater.” Over the last several months, senior officials have been in frequent contact with student loan debt relief advocates and the program’s biggest backers on Capitol Hill. After a May meeting with Zients in the Roosevelt Room, activists sent the White House a contingency plan outlining their desired actions from the president should the Supreme Court rule Biden’s plan unconstitutional. “It’s been clear from day one that relief is the only acceptable option,” said MELISSA BYRNE, the executive director of the group, We the 45 Million. While activists have been pleasantly surprised by Zients and Quillian’s engagement, they’re now taking a wait-and-see approach with the administration. In a statement following the ruling, Byrne said Biden’s program — some 16 million borrowers received emails telling them their debt of $10,000 or $20,000 was forgiven — amounted to “a promise” that he must find a way to keep. “He must immediately implement a Plan B, including finding a different path to ensure no repayment begins until cancellation is delivered,” Byrne said. Income driven repayment, she continued, “is not relief.” Biden’s initial response seemed satisfactory to Byrne, who tweeted her approval of the president’s comments and the proposed rulemaking. The White House isn’t the only branch of government under scrutiny in the wake of the student debt relief ruling. Last fall, the electorate’s broad disgust with the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling helped Democrats avoid the usual midterm wipeout, despite frustration by some progressives over Biden’s initial reaction to it. On Friday, most progressive groups directed their ire at the court’s conservative supermajority, but come next fall, any sense that the president failed to deliver the debt relief he promised could dampen enthusiasm for his reelection among key constituencies. The League of United Latin American Citizens emphasized the “political significance of this issue, especially for younger voters who played a crucial role in [Biden’s] election.” The decision, LULAC said in a statement, “now places the responsibility on the Biden administration to explore alternative avenues to provide relief for student loan borrowers that can withstand legal challenges.” MESSAGE US — Are you SOMEONE WHOSE DEBT RELIEF WAS JUST CANCELED? We want to hear from you. How will this impact you personally and politically? Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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